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Deja Whew!
Sikeston beats district-rival again
CAPE GIRARDEAU -- What a difference a week makes.
Last Friday night the Sikeston Bulldogs routed the shorthanded Notre Dame Bulldogs 78-45 in the third place game of the SEMO Conference Tournament. However Friday night was a different story as Sikeston found themselves in a real dog fight, winning 75-70.
With junior foward Austin Greer back in the lineup for the home team, Sikeston had their hands full from the opening tip.
"We had a gut check last time and really we didn't even compete with them," said Notre Dame head coach Paul Hale. "We got some proud kids on this team and our goal was simply to compete with Sikeston tonight.
"We had another player that we didn't have last time we faced them and it really made a difference."
It was another classic match-up between the two district-rivals as each team battled point-for-point throughout the game. But in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Sikeston was the team that managed to pull away down the stretch to seal the victory.
"We knew it would be a tough place to come play," said Sikeston head coach Gregg Holifield. "Notre Dame was so much more aggressive than when we first saw them and they really played well tonight."
Both Bulldog teams hit the ground running from the opening tip off, trading baskets as neither team was able to create a run to give them some breathing room.
Greer, Notre Dame's second-leading scorer from a season ago, was the spark the home team needed as he led the the Bulldogs and gave them the confidence they needed to compete with the Sikeston. With 16 of his 22 points coming in the first half, Greer had a chance with seven seconds left in the game to pull his team within one point at 73-70.
But his shot was after the mark allowing Sikeston's Michael Porter to pull down the rebound. Porter was then fouled with two seconds remaining, icing the victory with a pair of free throws.
"I love the atmosphere," Porter said. "I love the pressure. I love everything about the Sikeston/Notre Dame match-up."
Porter had a hard time finding the basket in the first half, scoring only four points while battling foul trouble but the all-stater came up big for his team with 23 second half points.
"My teammates took over for me in the first half," said Porter. "In the second half they did a great job of finding me but when it comes down to it, my teammates won the game for us tonight."
Still missing all-stater Ryan Willen, Notre Dame was determined not to have a repeat of last week and trailed by only two, 22-20 at the end of the first quarter. Twelve of the points came from Greer, who missed last week's game with an injury.
"He's a good player, he's still not at one hundred percent," Hale said of Greer. "Our better days are a head of us now. He's gonna be better and when we get Willen we're pretty confident in our abilities so our better days are ahead."
Sikeston built a bigger lead at the half as Matt Ritch hit a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired in the first half, giving the Bulldogs a 35-31 lead. But Notre Dame battled back, eventually taking the lead 50-49 midway through the third quarter, on a Logan Glueck basket 50-49.
"They're not gonna go away," Holifield said. "They're are so good and so well-coached. Those kids have played so many big games and they're very competitive. We have a tremendous amount respect for them, we know how good they are and how good they're gonna be when Ryan Willen gets back."
The Notre Dame lead was short-lived however, as Ritch buried a 3-pointer and a Porter dunk after a steal put Sikeston back in front to stay 54-50. Porter ended with 14 points in the quarter and finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks.
"Porter put it in the basket second half," Hale said. "He missed quite a few shots in first half that he normally hits and he's a go to player."
Holifield said Sikeston began to look for Porter to score more in the second half.
"He got in a little bit of foul trouble in the first half but in the second half we got to really looking for him more and did a much better job," Holifield said.
Besides Porter, Sikeston (6-1) was led in scoring by Brandon Washington with 12. Sherwin Jones finished with 11 while Dominic Fondon and Ritch ended with 10.
Sophomore Juqualin Wiggins managed the game well for Sikeston finishing with nine assist to go along with his seven rebounds and three points.
"We've got players with very little experience," Holifield said. "We just got to get to work especially on the defensive end and there are so many areas and aspects of the game we can get better at."
Sikeston will be back in action Tuesday night when they travel to Perryville. The junior varsity game will begin at 6 p.m.
Junior Varsity
Notre Dame edged Sikeston 53-52 in junior varsity action. Notre Dame's Trenton St. Cin hit the go-ahead shot with 10 seconds remaining while Sikeston's last shot attempt fell short.
Sikeston (3-4) was led in scoring by Corey Porter's 21 points. St. Cin finished with 13 for Notre Dame.